The overcast weather did not detract from an otherwise fine weekend in the countryside. I finished reading Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds and am looking forward to the sequel Absolution Gap. I also immediately got into the book, The Cheese Room and learned about 20 new things in the first 30 pages. As usual, we ate like kings. I have suffered from a certain lack of imagination when cooking with the bogracs, but Brian and Jon suggested cou cou vin. Waiting for the cou cou vin we had dirty martinis with Jon's awesome olives. How can people have a "two martini lunch?!" I was sent for a loop after just one. I also made some tabbouleh, Jon made some potato salad, and of course I did blueberry pancakes one morning. The other dinner was lamb in white wine on the grill for the others, while I grilled some amazing corn on the cob. I had been waiting to grill corn for probably 30 years. My parents once had a visiting German scientist over for a barbeque dinner. The man was very insulted and virtually stormed out when we gave him some grilled corn on the cob, saying that in Germany, "corn is fed to farm animals!"

Grilled Corn:
-peel off the first couple layers of husks
-soak in cold water for 15 minutes
-shake off the water
-peel back the husks but only remove th silk
-brush with olive oil or butter, garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper
-replace husks and tie with twine or loose husks
-place on grill on high for 2 turns, put to side on low and cover for 15 minutes, turning occassionally

The rosemary, parsley, mint and thyme from the herb garden were great additions to the food, and the gladioli have grown enormous and bloomed.

One afternoon we checked out the magtar (silo/grain storage) in Bodvaszilas. Aggtelek National Park has beautifully renovated this building at the top of a hill as an art exhibition center for nature artists.The exhibition opens on August 7th, and includes artists from Thailand, Taiwan, Iran, US and elswhere.